Bundela stands tall for MP

A sterling effort from Devendra Bundela, the middle-order batsman, took his side to 207 for 6 on the second day at Indore, 112 runs adrift of Jharkhand's total. Bundela's fine innings steadied the ship after Vijay Bharadwaj's offbreaks and a good spell from Mihir Diwakar, the opening bowler, had disturbed Kerala's batting lineup. For MP, the success story of the first session was Anand Rajan, the fast bowler, who bagged five wickets on first-class debut.

Swapnil Asnodkar's unbeaten 64 took Goa to 121 for 3 after two early strikes before tea from Vineet Jain, Tripura's opening bowler, had rocked the home side's top order on the second day at Margoa. Tripura's total of 309 was due in large part to Timir Chanda, the middle-order batsman, who batted 363 minutes for a dogged 89, and a breezy 41 down the order from Jain. Avinash Aware, the Goan fast bowler, had figures of 5 for 71. Asnodkar had added 64 with Saahil Dhuri at stumps and will look to ensure the first-innings lead.

An unbeaten 59 from Sadagoppan Ramesh, the former India opener, helped Kerala to 121 for 2 at stumps, after Kerala's bolwers had dismissed Rajasthan for 332 earlier in the day. For the home side, Ajay Jadeja's vital 67 was the standout innings of the second day, as Kerala's part-time bowlers combined to rout the tail. Mohammad Aslam, the left-arm spinner, took two wickets before stumps to stem Kerala's reply, but in Ramesh they had a batsman capable of a big innings.

Faiz Fazal and Amit Deshpande put on 86 unbeaten runs to lead Vidarbha's reply to Orissa's first innings 382 on the second day's play at Nagpur. For the tourists, P Patel and Subit Biswal were in good form, stroking fifties to take their side to a very good total, while Pritam Gandhe, the Vidarbha captain, sent down 51 overs of offspin to grab four key wickets. Fazal and Deshpande, who passed his fifty on the stroke of stumps, will need to continue their solid start if Vidarbha seek to press for a result.

Jagtar Singh's four-wicket haul left Assam in arrears after Jammu & Kashmir posted 252 on day two at Guwahati, with only J Arunkumar's unbeaten 40 standing tall amid the rubble. Kavaljit Singh, J&K's middle-order batsman, top-scored with 76 as the tourists struggled against the Assam spin duo of Anand Katti and A Konwar, who bagged seven wickets between them.

Saurashtra v Himachal Pradesh
Play to be rescheduled following political problems within the Himachal Pradesh camp.